Well, it's a tiny spark of somewhat good news:
Before a roomful of Republican donors Monday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy praised Donald Trump as the “secret weapon” in the GOP’s quest to retake Congress, while Trump returned the favor by saying McCarthy had been with him from the beginning, according to two people in attendance at the event in Dallas.
But their united front disguised far more complicated relationships that have developed between the former president and elected Republican leaders like McCarthy — a fact that is now playing out in a series of primary proxy battles across the country. From Nebraska and Idaho to Pennsylvania and Georgia, Republicans have been actively campaigning — or quietly maneuvering — against Trump’s picks in a way that could undermine his sway over the party.
One prominent example came Tuesday when Trump’s endorsed candidate for Nebraska governor, Charles Herbster, lost in the GOP primary after significant opposition from Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) — the first of what could be several potential setbacks in coming weeks for the former president.
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In several cases, some of Trump’s own Cabinet members and advisers, along with other longtime allies in the Republican Party, are working or stumping for candidates running against Trump-endorsed candidates.
In his sharpest political challenge yet to Trump, for example, former vice president Mike Pence announced Friday that he would campaign for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who is seeking reelection over Trump endorsee David Perdue. Trump has targeted Kemp — a key figure on his political enemies list — for refusing his efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 win in Georgia, but has struggled to help Perdue gain traction ahead of Georgia’s May 24 primary contest.
In Pennsylvania, former Trump secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), a strong Trump ally, are stumping for Senate candidate David McCormick, who has also hired a coterie of Trump’s former advisers — even though Trump is backing candidate and television personality Mehmet Oz in next Tuesday’s Republican primary there.
And the Club for Growth, an influential Republican organization with deep pockets that had been aligned with Trump, is also buttressing Kathy Barnette, a third GOP Senate candidate in Pennsylvania. Before the May 3 primary in Ohio, the Club for Growth had enraged Trump by running ads against winning Senate candidate J.D. Vance that Trump viewed as negative about him — and then increasing their spending after Trump attacked them.
Publicly, McCarthy and the Republican Party have continued to show widespread obeisance to Trump, fearful of drawing his wrath or having his supporters turn on them. Trump’s ability to anoint Republican candidates, and destroy opponents, has been one of his strongest weapons against losing control of the party.
“President Trump is already 58-1 this election season, and the power of his endorsement continues to propel candidates across the nation in a way no endorsement has before,” said Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich, referring to a win-loss record pushed by Trump that contains numerous unopposed candidates. Budowich did not answer multiple questions about others working against Trump, including McCarthy.
And the efforts to undermine Trump’s chosen candidates have been even more extensive behind the scenes.
One little-noticed House race in Washington state provides a case study of the covert machinations at play in a growing number of contests involving Trump-endorsed candidates and their rivals.
Sometime after a Trump-endorsed House candidate, Joe Kent, announced his candidacy for Washington state’s 3rd District last year, McCarthy advised one Republican lawmaker in a private conversation not to endorse him, according to multiple people briefed on the conversation, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private exchange. A former Army Special Forces officer, Kent is running to replace Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the House.
McCarthy told the Republican lawmaker that working against a GOP incumbent would be difficult to defend before the House Republican steering committee, the group responsible for doling out committee assignments in the next Congress. The member then relayed the conversation to four people who spoke with The Washington Post. McCarthy’s office declined a request for comment.
The quiet maneuvering — following McCarthy’s efforts to fund Herrera Beutler’s campaign through an agreement that was struck before her impeachment vote — has not soured the relationship between the two men. A Trump adviser said McCarthy and Trump remain on good terms.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks during a House Republican news conference on May 11. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Before a roomful of Republican donors Monday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy praised Donald Trump as the “secret weapon” in the GOP’s quest to retake Congress, while Trump returned the favor by saying McCarthy had been with him from the beginning, according to two people in attendance at the event in Dallas.
But their united front disguised far more complicated relationships that have developed between the former president and elected Republican leaders like McCarthy — a fact that is now playing out in a series of primary proxy battles across the country. From Nebraska and Idaho to Pennsylvania and Georgia, Republicans have been actively campaigning — or quietly maneuvering — against Trump’s picks in a way that could undermine his sway over the party.
One prominent example came Tuesday when Trump’s endorsed candidate for Nebraska governor, Charles Herbster, lost in the GOP primary after significant opposition from Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) — the first of what could be several potential setbacks in coming weeks for the former president.
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In several cases, some of Trump’s own Cabinet members and advisers, along with other longtime allies in the Republican Party, are working or stumping for candidates running against Trump-endorsed candidates.
In his sharpest political challenge yet to Trump, for example, former vice president Mike Pence announced Friday that he would campaign for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who is seeking reelection over Trump endorsee David Perdue. Trump has targeted Kemp — a key figure on his political enemies list — for refusing his efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 win in Georgia, but has struggled to help Perdue gain traction ahead of Georgia’s May 24 primary contest.
In Pennsylvania, former Trump secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), a strong Trump ally, are stumping for Senate candidate David McCormick, who has also hired a coterie of Trump’s former advisers — even though Trump is backing candidate and television personality Mehmet Oz in next Tuesday’s Republican primary there.
And the Club for Growth, an influential Republican organization with deep pockets that had been aligned with Trump, is also buttressing Kathy Barnette, a third GOP Senate candidate in Pennsylvania. Before the May 3 primary in Ohio, the Club for Growth had enraged Trump by running ads against winning Senate candidate J.D. Vance that Trump viewed as negative about him — and then increasing their spending after Trump attacked them.
Publicly, McCarthy and the Republican Party have continued to show widespread obeisance to Trump, fearful of drawing his wrath or having his supporters turn on them. Trump’s ability to anoint Republican candidates, and destroy opponents, has been one of his strongest weapons against losing control of the party.
“President Trump is already 58-1 this election season, and the power of his endorsement continues to propel candidates across the nation in a way no endorsement has before,” said Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich, referring to a win-loss record pushed by Trump that contains numerous unopposed candidates. Budowich did not answer multiple questions about others working against Trump, including McCarthy.
And the efforts to undermine Trump’s chosen candidates have been even more extensive behind the scenes.
One little-noticed House race in Washington state provides a case study of the covert machinations at play in a growing number of contests involving Trump-endorsed candidates and their rivals.
Sometime after a Trump-endorsed House candidate, Joe Kent, announced his candidacy for Washington state’s 3rd District last year, McCarthy advised one Republican lawmaker in a private conversation not to endorse him, according to multiple people briefed on the conversation, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private exchange. A former Army Special Forces officer, Kent is running to replace Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the House.
McCarthy told the Republican lawmaker that working against a GOP incumbent would be difficult to defend before the House Republican steering committee, the group responsible for doling out committee assignments in the next Congress. The member then relayed the conversation to four people who spoke with The Washington Post. McCarthy’s office declined a request for comment.
The quiet maneuvering — following McCarthy’s efforts to fund Herrera Beutler’s campaign through an agreement that was struck before her impeachment vote — has not soured the relationship between the two men. A Trump adviser said McCarthy and Trump remain on good terms.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks during a House Republican news conference on May 11. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)